Taylor's Volleyball Team

I am the staff advisor for the Taylor's Volleyball Club. All of the students in this picture are from the South Australian Matriculation (SAM) program. They are about to write their exams and graduate. The volleyball team will be down to about four people. I'm going to need to get my act together and advertise for new members next semester. My camera gets foggy in the rain.

FUBAR!!!!!!

Great costume.....or the greatest costume?

Phone Images

Probably the first picture I took with my phone.

Petaling St.

Downtown KL. I rarely get a chance to go.

The Petronas Towers.

A five star near my house.

Outside the Sheraton, where the ICPU teachers had a Chinese buffet.

Inside the Sheraton.

Did you know you can have pet monkeys here?

Stray cats are everywhere.

My school.

Shertaton banquet hall before the unveiling of Taylor's 10 year mission.

A beach in Penang.

The street beside the big lion in the first photo. This is right near my house.

An ugly picture of the pyramid. You can see a monorail track that never got completed. It's such an eyesore.

The first place I went golfing. A year long membership is about $150 CDN.

One man golf cart.

Your parking spot.

My parking spot.

Before my last taxi ride. 6:45 am.

7:00 am and still waiting.

I'm happy that I got picked up and only had to pay twice the meter rate.

Stray dogs right near my house. They have a healthy fear of man.

I ordered a coke to go. I didn't order a coke in a bag!

I forget what you call these things. My dad has one locked in the storage area. One of my students uses this to stay refreshed.

Anyways, I thought my phone was pretty darn good, but I found that it's a bit out of style. I can't buy an adapter to download pics to the comp. Luckily, one of my students has the old-skool adapter. He was nice enough to lend it to me for the weekend. Thanks Bobby!

My Crew

DJ Juice

Two hitchhikers

Streets, Streets, NYC, NYC, Universe, Universe!

London chillin

Is that Mills?

Rockin it!

Lovely couple

1978 or 2006? Hawks killin it!

I took this picture:)

No comment

Don't mess!

All Photos lifted without permission from http://www.jhodgsonmusic.com/ . Hey Jordan, can you e-mail me those pics from the slideshow on your myspace? Awesome pics, make me want to cry.

Going Out on a Limb. Nacho Libre is a Great Movie!

Since I've seen pretty much every DVD available, I thought I'd scrape the bottom of the barrel and give Nacho Libre a try. I have aways hated Jack Black. I think he is a cheap Chris Farley rip off. Anyways, the movie was excellent. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. I'd like to dress up as a Mexican wrestler for hallowen. I think it may be hard to get the mask.

Happy Deepavali

I should be on a beach in Langkawi right now, but I'm broke and have too much work to do. I figured I'd make the best of it here in KL. I'd write more, but I'm not feeling well AGAIN!!!

Happy Deepavali!

Cost of Living in KL

Here is a breakdown of the cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. If you are considering teaching here, use this as a guide to decide if your school is giving you a fair deal. Malaysia's currency is called the Ringgit. I call it the Blinggit. 100 Ringgits equals about $30 CDN. For most things, I'd say a ringgit buys you about the same as a dollar. The three exceptions are cars, houses, and beer.

Income tax

For any teacher it shouldn't go above 10%. 10% would be for the top of the pay scale at an international school.

Accommodation

Unfurnished basic (ghetto) apartment: RM 500-600

Master bedroom fully furnished: RM 250-300

Nice condo in nice area: RM 2,000-2,500

Two story townhouse (older): RM 800-1,000

Newer style townhouse: Over RM 1,000. Depends how nice and what area.

Taxi

Basic fare starts are RM 2, but you'll never get the meter rate.

Train

I enjoy taking trains. I took the train from KL to Butterworth, which is where you catch the ferry for Penang. I believe the ticket cost me about RM 40, which is pretty damn cheap for an 8 hour train ride. I had my own bed and slept the whole way.

Bus

I recently to the bus from KL to Lemut, which is where you catch the ferry for Pangkor Island. The bus tickt was RM 19 for four hours. Not too bad.

Food

Lunch or dinner at a Chinese or India restaurant (nothing fancy): RM 6-7

Beer

Big Bottle: RM 12-15 depending on the brand.

Can: RM 6-7

Mug: RM 9-10

Jug: RM 50 (can be cheaper during hh)

Cigarettes

20 Marlboros: RM 7.20

14 Marlboros: RM 5.00

Pirated DVD

Street seller: RM 10

Petaling Street RM8

Gas

RM 1.50 per litre

A Dangerous Situation (Once Again, Family Members Don't Read)

As I was leaving for work Thursday morning I had to leave my bike on the kickstand for a moment in order to lock my gate. The bike fell over and oil and gas started to leak. On the way to work my bike started to clunk out in top gear. I figure I'd needed to go get it repaired. However, the gas and oil didn't leak for the rest of the day. The ride home was fine, but I was never in top gear.

I took the bike out later that night to go back to my school. On my way home, my bike completely gave out while I was in the fast lane of the highway. I managed to pull over just because my bike was still rolling, but with no power. Luckily, there was a gap in traffic and I was ok.

The problem was that I ran out of gas. My bike's gas gauge doesn't work. I was also lucky that there was a gas station about 100 meters away. Since it only costs about $1 CDN to keep the tank full, I'm not going to test my luck again.

Verbal Lashing from Golf Pro

I went to the local driving range to blow off some steam. The local pro came to talk to me and try to get me to take some lessons. Here are the exact words he used to describe my skills:

- "Pathetic"

- "The worst I've ever seen."

- "You're wasting your time."

- "I can't watch you any more or I'll be sick."

Thanks for the advice!

A Cool Day in Malaysia

I just got back from Genting Highlands. Genting is a town in the clouds. It's cool all year round. There is an amusement park and a casino. I went for the casino, but they wouldn't let me in because I was wearing some "loud" shorts. Anyways, it's probably for the best since I'm broke after buying the bike. I went on some cool rides at the park. The drop zone was crazy. I have decided that I will never go skydiving.

Why am I alone in every picture on this blog?

Driving in Malaysia (Family Members Please Don't Read)

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060925/3/2qe4k.html

A Nice Artifact

A nice student in period two gave me a great surprise. He is from Palestine. He asked me what my full name was, so I told him. At the end of class he gave me this. It's my name in Arabic. I keep a teaching portfolio and this just got added.

Thanks

TEFL Scam Hits Malaysia

The original intent of this blog was to inform ESL teachers what it's like teaching in Malaysia. It's very hard to find info on the topic. As you can see from my pictures, I'm enjoying myself a great deal.

This article was sent to me by a fellow blogger: http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Tuesday/Hotnews/20061003120159/Article/index_html.

It's a classic scam that teachers need to be aware of. Honestly, I don't know what the people who fell for it were thinking. If you earned RM25,160 per month, you'd be living in a palace and driving a new Benz. I don't know of any teachers in the world who are pulling in that kind of money?

Anyways, check out http://www.teachers-international.com/wordpress/ . This Guy is much better at covering TEFL topics than I am.

It's About Time

The taxi drivers here in Malaysia have been driving me so crazy that I just had to buy a scooter. When I lived in Korea, I had a Vespa style scooter. Once I bought the scooter in Korea, I enjoyed myself much more. Here in Malaysia, I've been pretty much trapped in my community for three months. The only problem is that it is a manual and I've only ever driven automatics. I made it home in once piece. The key challenge for me will be to get past the roundabout between my house and my school. I got through it today.